Clubs, schools, aquatic centres and swim businesses play an important role in helping coaches become fully recognised and licenced under the Swimming Australia National Coaching Framework (SANCF). Supporting your coaches through this transition strengthens safety, improves risk management and ensures your program aligns with national expectations.
Steps Clubs, Schools, and Employer Organisations Can Take:
- Ensure all coaches are licenced. Check the licencing status of every coach and include the Australian Swim Coach Licence in recruitment, onboarding and role descriptions.
- Match duties to coaching level. Ensure coaches are assigned appropriate duties in alignment to their competence and experience levels. For example, a new coach should not be given responsibilities to lead in a Head Coach role of a large club.
- Strengthen recruitment. Check the status of a candidate’s licence before they begin coaching and avoid assigning duties to unqualified individuals unless they are already transitioning in the SANCF.
- Embed risk management. Use the licence as your baseline requirement, follow safeguarding procedures and maintain accurate compliance records.
- Verify compliance regularly. Check licences and required documents annually and before any coach is assigned to lead or assist sessions.
- Support emerging coaches. Offer supervised opportunities, encourage use of SPLASH Hub and help provisional coaches complete their requirements.
Why this matters:
When employers actively support licencing, compliance and development, coaches are safer, better prepared and more confident. This leads to higher-quality coaching, reduced organisational risk, and more positive experiences for swimmers and families.
